Calls for Cooperation

Lyndon Johnson last week addressed two appeals to the Kremlin for progress on arms controls, a subject he clearly holds vital to the peace effort of his last months as president.

Flying into rain-soaked Manhattan, the President made a calculated surprise visit to address the U.N. General Assembly, whose members had just voted, 95 to 4, to endorse the nuclear nonproliferation pact. When it is signed by the U.S., Russia, Britain and 40 non-nuclear countries, the treaty will prohibit traffic in nuclear arms and war materiel between the atomic haves and havenots, and at the same time encourage the spread of peaceful know-how and materials. Although two atomically armed nations--France and Red China--will not sign the treaty, and such nations as India, Israel and West Germany may do so reluctantly, if at all, Johnson nonetheless hailed it as "the most important international agreement in the field of disarmament since the nuclear age began." He also emphasized that non-nuclear nations are "entitled" to demand that the superpowers make progress "on the limitation of strategic defensive and offensive" nuclear weapons.

Later, at a ceremony in the White House at which Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin exchanged papers ratifying the U.S.-Russian consular agreement, Johnson expressed hope that nothing will "prevent us from exploring every avenue to a more peaceful relationship and a more cooperative world." The new accord calls for separate negotiations on the opening of consular offices outside Moscow and Washington and constitutes the first bilateral agreement between the two nations since the U.S. granted diplomatic recognition to Russia in 1933.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.